Television and the Less-Interested Voter
The Costs of an Informed Electorate
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9755347 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Thomas E Patterson (0000-0003-2989-5517, corresponding author), R Dale Mcclure, Robert D Mcclure |
| Year | 1976 |
| Volume | 425 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 88-97 |
| Publication date | 1976-05-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/000271627642500107 |
| OpenAlex | W2155331019 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
In pre-television American politics, electoral research documented that less-interested voters paid little attention to newspaper coverage of presidential campaigns. The result was that many Americans went to the polls possessing little information about the candidates and issues. Relying on evidence from a panel survey conducted during the 1972 presidential election, this article challenges the common belief that the widespread appeal of television news has changed this condition and made the low-interest voter much more informed about presidential elections. In fact, the evidence clearly shows that televised network evening newscasts contribute almost nothing to the low- interest voter's election information. But the evidence also shows that another channel of television communication does inform the less-interested voter—televised political advertis ing. Televised advertising not only reaches low-interest voters, but also teaches them useful, accurate, issue informa tion. So for a candidate to get his message across to all the voters, he cannot simply rely on free television news time; he must buy costly television advertising time. The implica tions for campaign financing are obvious
Advertising · Appeal · Business · Newspaper · Political science · Politics · Presidential election · Presidential system · Public relations · Voting · Law · Media Influence and Politics · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics
Money, Politics, and Democracy
Mediatization of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)
Some aspects of the political economy of election campaign contribution laws
Television Exposure and Attitude Change
Watching the News and Support for Democracy
Image formation, the low involvement viewer, and televised political advertising
| Citations per year | 0.12 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1977 - 2022 (46) |
| Highly cited | No |